| The challenge
KEMYA is a 50/50 joint venture between SABIC and Exxon Chemical Arabia, Inc., an ExxonMobil affiliate. The joint venture was established in 1980, and produces ethylene, propylene, low density polyethylene and linear low density polyethylene. With the initial production commencing in 1984, KEMYA was one of Saudi Arabia’s initial polyethylene producers. Kemya started their Elastomer complex in 2016 capable of producing 400,000T/yr of synthetic rubbers like Halobutyl, EPDm, PBR & carbon black.
Kemya constructed an SWTU (Secondary Wastewater Treatment Unit) to reuse the effluent from Halobutyl unit & floated a bid to outsource O&M to a world class expert in Wastewater management.
Veolia was awarded the O&M contract for Commissioning, Start up & O&M of the SWTU for two years from February 2016 and it is the first of its kind of outsourcing Operational contracts in SABIC. The contract was extended two times until December 2021
| Veolia’s solution
Veolia mobilized an expert team for the commissioning & start up. Veolia has identified potential reuse of waste water from the entire Kemya complex.
The SWTU(65m3/hr) is mainly composed by:
- Pre treatment: Consisting of Buffer tanks, pH adjustment & basket filters,
- MBR system for TOC removal,
- RO system for producing 75-80% Reuse water (Marafiq potable water quality),
- Brine Concentrator for recovering Water from Brine,
- Belt Press for sludge treatment.
| The benefits
Management of SWTU Operations by Veolia allows client to concentrate on their core business in Elastomer complex. Presence of Veolia on site opens doors for future sustainability projects on site like reuse of waste water, waste disposal in world class facility being constructed by Veolia.
- Safe Start up & Operation of the SWTU
- Performance test for the capacity
- Future expansion of Facility
- OPEX optimisations/ Plant availability
- Shutdown & Emergency Managements
